Hi - I'm new to DIY pedals and reading veroboard layouts and had a question re the type of capacitors - if it is say 100 nF and in yellow, does this mean it is a film type capacitor, even though there may be red 100 nF capacitors elsewhere on the layout? Does this make a difference?
Thanks for the quick reply Tom, greatly appreciated! I assume this is the same when there is a red (film) say '1uF' and an electrolytic type with the same '1uF' value on the layout?
I had assumed in general that if it was pF I'd just use ceramic, film for all nF and electrolytic for all uF.
the different classifications you have stated (pF=ceramic, nF=film box, uF=electrolytic) are in fact, how most folks do it. The main factors determining this are 1) accurate capacitance 2) size of capacitor 3) cost of capacitor. Electrolytics, for example are super inexpensive and can be quite small even with really high capacitance value. They are, however, not always accurate so sometimes you need to multimeter your caps just to be sure what you've got. And they can dry out over time. For most circuits though, value variation does not matter that much when it comes to your big capacitors or power filtering and such. Film box caps don't dry out over time but take up a lot more space and also can get relatively expensive once you go over 1uF. A lot of this stuff is so much trial and error and just seeing what works and what doesn't. Also - it doesn't hurt to occasionally take apart a pedal you have bought just to see what they have used. Good luck to you in your new hobby!
Hi - I'm new to DIY pedals and reading veroboard layouts and had a question re the type of capacitors - if it is say 100 nF and in yellow, does this mean it is a film type capacitor, even though there may be red 100 nF capacitors elsewhere on the layout? Does this make a difference?
ReplyDeleteThe yellow oval values are typically ceramic disc capacitors. For the 100nF you would use a MLCC cap. The red values would be regular film caps.
DeleteThanks for the quick reply Tom, greatly appreciated! I assume this is the same when there is a red (film) say '1uF' and an electrolytic type with the same '1uF' value on the layout?
DeleteI had assumed in general that if it was pF I'd just use ceramic, film for all nF and electrolytic for all uF.
Sorry, one other noobie question - for CLR type resistors, what is typically used?
Deletethe different classifications you have stated (pF=ceramic, nF=film box, uF=electrolytic) are in fact, how most folks do it. The main factors determining this are 1) accurate capacitance 2) size of capacitor 3) cost of capacitor. Electrolytics, for example are super inexpensive and can be quite small even with really high capacitance value. They are, however, not always accurate so sometimes you need to multimeter your caps just to be sure what you've got. And they can dry out over time. For most circuits though, value variation does not matter that much when it comes to your big capacitors or power filtering and such. Film box caps don't dry out over time but take up a lot more space and also can get relatively expensive once you go over 1uF. A lot of this stuff is so much trial and error and just seeing what works and what doesn't. Also - it doesn't hurt to occasionally take apart a pedal you have bought just to see what they have used. Good luck to you in your new hobby!
DeleteThanks Chris! Have built the Arrows boost and caught the DIY pedal bug :D
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